Second Grade News

January 2016 * Jennings School * Mrs. Sennhenn

Second Grade News

January 2016 * Jennings School * Mrs. Sennhenn

Curriculum Update

Math- We are just about finished Chapter 6: Multiplication Tables of 2, 5, and 10. The children learned strategies to solve unknown facts using anchor facts, skip counting strategies, and using dot paper. They seem very confident with these concepts. I will send home the packets that we have worked on as the test nears so you can familiarize yourself with the strategies to help your child practice at home.

Writing- We are almost finished our Persuasive Writing Unit. The children just finished writing a travel brochure highlighting reasons why we should visit a favorite place. We worked on using a catchy "hook" to get the reader's attention, using facts sprinkled with opinion to make the place attractive, and breaking the information into meaningful chunks. This week we are writing a book review. We will work on all the necessary parts for a complete review. These include; stating the title and author, star rating that reflects their opinion, reasons that support the star rating, and persuasive language. We will type these in the computer lab, and display them in the case for all to see.

Social Studies- We finished our science unit and have begun our third Social Studies Unit- Looking at the Earth. This chapter tells the story of our country's physical environment and how people interact with it. The students will explore different landscapes and the ways in which people have adapted and changed their surroundings. They will focus on the management and uses of resources. In addition, the children will learn how to read a land and water map, find directions on a map, use a map scale, read a table, and make a thoughtful decision. We began the unit by reading a book called Tulip Sees America by Cynthia Rylant. This story highlights how the geography of the United States changes form place to place. This lead to our discussion of landforms. The students also made a landform book highlighting the major types of landforms that they will be responsible to know. These are; hill, plain, mountain, valley, island, and peninsula. We also discussed desert, forest, beach, and cliff when reading Tulip Sees America. We have also discussed and made Bodies of Water guides. These include; river, lake, ocean, and gulf. We discussed the Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico, and The Great Lakes. We will look at the Seven Continents ( Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America) and Five Oceans ( Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern) and label them on a map this week.